How can I force my rMBP to ignore the broadcast of a specific wireless router?

[Turbocharged]

one of my neighbor's router is broadcasting the wrong country code through 802.11d, I see the following from system report -> wi-fi:

TP-LINK_BL：
PHY 模式： 802.11n
BSSID： 8c:21:0a:25:53:6e
频道： 1,+1
国家/地区代码： AL
网络类型： 基础结构
安全性： WPA/WPA2 个人级
信号/噪声： -85 dBm / -92 dBm

sorry it's in Chinese, this router is broadcasting AL as its country code, since rMBP tries to set its wifi location by using the first 802.11d signal it receives every time it wake up from sleep or reboot, my laptop's wifi adapter is often set to AL, which prohibits all channels above 140, and the problem is, in China, the legal range of 5GHz wireless signals starts from 149, ends at 165. as a result, I'll have no access to my 5GHz wireless network.

obviously I cannot go door to door in my apartment asking if that TP-LINK_BL belongs them, its just not practical, and I don't think anyone will feel comfortable having a stranger modifying the settings on their wireless router...

so my only option, if possible, is to set my wifi adapter to ignore its 802.11d broadcast. called apple care, and it seems they don't actually care... much about this problem, since its my neighbor's fault...

 

[snaky69]

one of my neighbor's router is broadcasting the wrong country code through 802.11d, I see the following from system report -> wi-fi:

TP-LINK_BL：
PHY 模式： 802.11n
BSSID： 8c:21:0a:25:53:6e
频道： 1,+1
国家/地区代码： AL
网络类型： 基础结构
安全性： WPA/WPA2 个人级
信号/噪声： -85 dBm / -92 dBm

sorry it's in Chinese, this router is broadcasting AL as its country code, since rMBP tries to set its wifi location by using the first 802.11d signal it receives every time it wake up from sleep or reboot, my laptop's wifi adapter is often set to AL, which prohibits all channels above 140, and the problem is, in China, the legal range of 5GHz wireless signals starts from 149, ends at 165. as a result, I'll have no access to my 5GHz wireless network.

obviously I cannot go door to door in my apartment asking if that TP-LINK_BL belongs them, its just not practical, and I don't think anyone will feel comfortable having a stranger modifying the settings on their wireless router...

so my only option, if possible, is to set my wifi adapter to ignore its 802.11d broadcast. called apple care, and it seems they don't actually care... much about this problem, since its my neighbor's fault...

In the list of Wi-fi networks you have previously joined, put the network you do want to join higher up in the list than your neighbour's.

 

[Turbocharged]

In the list of Wi-fi networks you have previously joined, put the network you do want to join higher up in the list than your neighbour's.

No, it has no effect on 802.11d broadcast. It writes setting to your airport whithout actually coonecting to your laptop.

 

[monkeybagel]

No, it has no effect on 802.11d broadcast. It writes setting to your airport whithout actually coonecting to your laptop.

You could call the FCC on them

assuming you are in the US...

 

[maflynn]

I don't think there's anything you can do setting wise, other then to ignore it.

What's the problem with your neighbor using a different country code, I don't understand the ramifications?

You could maybe use a wifi sniffer and as you walk around the hallways see how weak or strong the signal is, to perhaps isolate which apt it is.

 

[Turbocharged]

I don't think there's anything you can do setting wise, other then to ignore it.

What's the problem with your neighbor using a different country code, I don't understand the ramifications?

You could maybe use a wifi sniffer and as you walk around the hallways see how weak or strong the signal is, to perhaps isolate which apt it is.

maybe I didn't explain clearly, let me try again.

because:
in AL, no channel beyond 140 is allowed
in CN (where I am now), 5GHz signal span from 149-165

and
my rMBP's airport often been set to AL (by my neighbor's router), as a result, it does not make channel 149-165 active.
and my router which is a ASUS AC68U, bought in China, only broadcast in 149-165 range on 5GHz in compliance with local regulation

therefore
once my rMBP wakes up / boot up and is set to AL as country code. then it cannot find my 5GHz AC network. renders my new router an useless update (AC devices connect only at 200-300Mbps@ 2.4GHz frequency instead of 1300Mbps @5GHz)

so i can't really ignore the problem...

 

[niteflyr]

I can't believe customer service is ignoring this. I'd be bugging them for a fix.

 

[Turbocharged]

I can't believe customer service is ignoring this. I'd be bugging them for a fix.

quotes from a very recent chat with apple"care"

"We are very limited to what can be done here, it is a situation out of our control at this point"

"I see, that is the best we can do at this moment, your Mac will always pick up any available wifi signal"

"The only way to prevent this is to connect to your airport via ethernet, You can purchase the USB to ethernet adapter, disable your wifi, and connect via ethernet"

guess I'll have to go door to door and find that TP-LINK_BL router, hopefully that belongs to a friendly neighbor...

 

[TonyHoyle]

I find it unlikely that an MBP works out what country it's in by picking up a random wifi broadcast and setting it to that - more likely it's set by apple prior to shipping.

If what you were suggesting was true I could make a rogue AP that would screw up any nearby apple devices, set it up near a starbucks and watch the fun.

 

[GreenDolphin]

I find it unlikely that an MBP works out what country it's in by picking up a random wifi broadcast and setting it to that - more likely it's set by apple prior to shipping.

If what you were suggesting was true I could make a rogue AP that would screw up any nearby apple devices, set it up near a starbucks and watch the fun.

Sorry to resurrect a 7-year-old thread, but came across the thread while diagnosing a crash issue (my Mac's El Capitan (10.11) WiFi device driver (Broadcom 4360) crashes and causes the Mac abruptly to sleep, improperly disconnecting all attached devices.).
Macs do indeed do what you write above. There's a 802.11 sub-protocol, 802.11d, in which WiFi networks broadcast their country. This applies to all WiFi routers and Access Points a Mac can see, not just ones it can connects to. In our global world, it's very common to have routers bought from multiple countries in any populated area (in mine, there are three country codes at least at any given time, and routers that don't use the protocol and don't broadcast anything).
The most common issue is the Mac's simply not seeing your router's 5GHz network (happens 20% of the time to me), but in addition, seeing any other network can cause the device driver to crash. In my case, for a yet unknown reason, that crash forces my MacBook Pro to sleep even though it's set to never sleep. This is now happening dozens of times/day.